Advancements in networking and computing technologies has enabled transformation of computers from low performance/high cost devices capable of performing basic word processing and computing basic mathematical computations to high performance/low cost machines that are capable of a myriad of disparate functions. For example, a consumer level computing device can be employed to aid a user in paying bills, tracking expenses, communicating nearly instantaneously with friends or family across large distances by way of email, obtaining information from networked data repositories, and numerous other functions/activities. Computers and peripherals associated therewith have thus become a staple in modern society, utilized for both personal and business activities.
In particular, word processing applications have become important tools for generating, formatting, and disseminating electronic documents. For centuries human beings were forced to communicate in writing by way of a marking instrument and a writing surface, such as pen and piece of paper. Writing in long hand is a tedious process that requires a substantial amount of time and effort, particularly for generating lengthy documents. For instance, one can hardly imagine generating a novel of three hundred pages by long hand. As time passed, typewriters became available to mitigate some of the deficiencies associated with long hand writing. For example, one highly skilled in typing can type words at a rate that is much faster in comparison to a rate of writing in long hand. Typewriters, however, are bulky and unappealing to the eye, making them unsuitable for many locations. Further, errors made while typing by way of a typewriter are difficult to correct, and often appear unkempt to a reader thereof. Therefore, in some instances, entire pages must be rewritten, thereby adversely affecting efficiency and causing a typist to harbor angst against the machine. Other difficulties with typewriters include lack of disparate fonts, type size, type feature (such as italics), thereby not fully realizing aesthetic features that can be associated with documents.
Word processors resident on today's computers mitigate several of the deficiencies associated with writing long hand and type writers. For instance, modern computers are designed to be sleek and pleasing to the eye, thereby allowing placement of such computing devices in substantially any area within a home or business. Further, today's word processors have included therein a myriad of font styles, features, bullet options, spacing options, and numerous other options that enable creation of a customized electronic document that meets innate aesthetic requirements of the creator of such document. Word processors also include functionality that aids in assisting an author in spelling, grammar, and the like. Thus, today's word processors include benefits of typewriters as well as several other functionalities to aid in electronic document creation.
While word processors have become powerful tools for document creation and editing, there remain issues with respect to reviewing such documents on computer screens. For example, it can be difficult to read text on a computer screen. Users who read a significant amount of text on computer screens can be subject to eye strain, which results in headaches and can decrease reading speed as well as reading comprehension. To improve readability of electronic documents, some word processing systems have included functionality that displays documents on a computer specifically for reading and reviewing. In particular, font size and page layout can be altered to enhance readability, and technology that renders text so that is appears to have heightened clarity is employed to further aid in reading and reviewing electronic documents. While this functionality aids in readability, problematic issues remain. More particularly, in conventional word processing systems, each document (regardless of document structure) is subject to the functionality, as a “one size fits all” approach is employed. Accordingly, in some instances, readability of documents subject to the aforementioned functionality is negatively affected rather than positively affected. Users of the word processing system can change views so that the electronic document appears in a conventional manner, and thereafter print such document and make any edits by hand. This forced alteration, however, can negatively impact goodwill associated with a word processing system.